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Ghost of Demon Past (Soul &+&+ Alvis)

The offer was there, adn Carl felt his hand clench reflexively. There was a thirll for a moment, the chance to step back in the ring, the chance to do what he was best at. What in some ways he'd always felt he'd been born to do. There was teh moment that his mind instantly went to the laundry list of everything that went wrong with him when he'd been fighting. The aches, the pain, the black eyes, and broken bone, the blood on his hands from both his own wounds and those that he had inflicted. The messed up knees that were only recently starting to get better. Twisted neck, adn everything else that went along with it. But he'd be in the ring again. Showing the world once again that there was no one out there that stood up to him and walked away. Blood for blood, and by the gallon. And his boss wanted him in the ring. Wanted him doing what he did best.

"Who am I to say no? Yeah, you got it Mel. I'm your man for this. Hell, you put the word out that the Piledriver is stepping back into the ring, you'll probably flood this place with all the underground fans that have been waiting for this. A return match." He told her, his smile looking pleased, like that of a well fed predator. He was on the prowl again, and some poor bastard was about to get mauled. It was going to be a good day to be him.
 
Grinning brightly, Mel perked, stepping back with clear pleasure as she eyed him. "Perfect then." She replied with an overly chipper voice and pleasant demeanor. "I'll get my promoters on it A-sap. You can start tomorrow. And as for today, I'm sure that someone needs to take a little time to let their lover-girl, a.k.a. my best girl, know about the change of career, and maybe celebrate a little, hmm?" Raising a brow, she edged up closer to him, pressing her right index finger to his chest as she lowered her voice drastically. "Not that it is any of my business, but a little birdy told me that you two aren't exactly... intimate. You sleep together, you just haven't slept together. And I can tell you mister, the way she just scurried off when you walked back over? Jai is hot and bothered and I would be a shameful best friend not to give you two the... freedom to do as you please, or should I say who?" She stepped back, grinning slyly, and pointed back up the stairs. "If I know Jai, it's that when she decides to make a quick escape before a shift, it's that she heads up to the roof to get a breath of fresh air. Good luck." That said, Mel turned and strutted off with a sense of pride and smugness that rivaled even his.


In the meantime, Jai had in fact snuck along the back hallway of the club to head up a few sets of staircases and wind up on the roof of the three story building, sitting on the edge overlooking the river and reservoir and the richer half of the city over the bridge she had once almost died swimming under. Her eyes were fixed on the stars, and she had her palms pressed into the rough roof surface behind her in a leaned back position, breathing slowly, calmly.
 
There was a small war within Carl. The pride and anticipation of his return was slightly dampened by her apparent knowledge of the goings on between himself and Jai. He'd dealt with some of this kind of thing in the past. He had to remind himself, almost constantly, that Jai and Mel went way back, adn not just as employer and employee. He was standing in the midst of the almost dreaded 'best friend' which likely had the ability to complicate things quite a bit. But fortunately, Mel seemed to like him and Jai as an item, so at least she wasn't trying to collapse the relationship.

As a point of fact, she was trying to do the opposite. Directing him to the roof, after Jai, pointing out that there was some time before the shift started. And essentially giving him the night off since he was starting his new role tomorrow. There was the very simple surge of anticipation. If jai was ready to go...

But he shook himself. Was he ready? Was this something he wanted too, for the right reasons? Yes, Jai was beautiful, a good soul, and very very dear to him. But was it the right time, the right moment? He sighed as Mel walked away, and then set out for the roof. Moment or not, she should know that he was going back in the ring. And he'd play it by ear, see how things worked out between them. When he emerged onto the roof, he had to admit that there was a damned nice view up here. And then he saw Jai, who made the view even better.
"Hey." he called to her with a smile.
 
Jai had been off in her own world, trapped in thoughts and memories and fears and infinite wishes, her sapphire gaze glossily lost somewhere in the stars above. The club roof was one of few places in the city that she could actually see the stars, or be alone, even just take a minute to step back from the world and truly escape. There wasn't even cell phone reception up there. It was just her and the sky and the fresh air, and nothing else, except for her thoughts at least. And her thoughts were jumbled, scattered, a complete disaster that she was just trying to make sense of. Desmond Croft was somewhere out there, hiding in plain sight of the view that she had over the city, and he had come to the bar that night so long ago to remind her that he was going to be back for his revenge, to complete the job he had started so long ago, and kill her for good this time. But then there was Carl, tall, strong, loving Carl... who apparently had flawless skill in a fighting ring. She'd had no idea, and seeing him like that just... did something to her that she couldn't understand or explain. It gave her some comfort though, knowing that he was so capable, that if Desmond ever showed back up she at least had one person that would be able to fight him for everything he had, someone who capable... very, very capable...

The sudden voice calling out from behind her interrupted all sidetracking thoughts abruptly, and it was so unexpected and surprising that Jai gasped, her whole body lurching as she quickly shifted to look around, attempt to get to her feet. It didn't register that it was Carl whose voice had interrupted her, not immediately anyway, and she didn't catch a true recognizable glimpse of him until, just as she was moving to stand, the grand ruler of all, also known as gravity, not to mention a terrible lack of coordination, decided to act. One minute she was turning and bringing one leg up from dangling over the edge of the roof, pushing herself towards standing, and the next she felt a powerful pull of air on her legs and her fingers were desperately clinging onto the edge of the roof, holding her up with a clenched, slipping grasp as a scream left her lungs.
 
Carl was about to chuckle as Jai started at the sound of his voice. She was jittery at times. That moment passed as she foundered, and then disappeared over the edge. He paused for a second, not believing what he'd seen. His eyes picked out the grasp of her hands on the edge, and then his insticts were in full roar. He moved fast, his long legs covering the distance so very quickly, and his arms reaching over the edge. His hands claped on her arms, and he sighed, knowing he had her.
"It's all right!" He half shouted. "I've got you. You're all right." He repeat, and lifted her up, hauling her bodily over the edge of the roof as though she was a bag of laundry, no strain in hisbearing. He stumbled slightly, feeling himself seated on what he thought was an air conditioning unit. He had Jai in his lap, an arm around her. "You're okay Jai. I've got you." He muttered.
 
Everything had happened so quickly, and without any sense of warning or even a chance to just breathe. One moment she was lost in thought, the next she was startled back to reality, realizing that it was Carl who had spoken up, and then she was dangling off the edge of the roof three stories off the pavement in a back alley below, watching her whole life flash before her eyes, and suddenly, it wasn't Carl's voice she heard anymore. All that was ringing in her ears was the sound of his laughter, his sick, twisted, sadistic laughter, and suddenly he was whispering, and she could feel his warm sticky breath against her ear, as if he was right there, taking pure pleasure in her sudden distress. "It's all over now, and you know it. I'm coming for you, Jam-Jam, I'm coming for you and this time, you won't be so lucky. I've got you Jai. I've got you."

I've got you...

Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, every muscle in her body having tensed over, and she was hyperventilating, shaking like a leaf, in a sense of complete and utter panic. When the whispering and laughter seemed to stop, and the blood rush slowed, she latched onto him out of reflex, forcing her eyes back open. At first, it was Desmond she saw, not Carl, and she almost screamed, thrashing for a moment as she squeezed her eyes back shut, trying to convince herself that it wasn't real, it wasn't happening. And sure enough, when her eyes slid back open, it was Carl she saw, and suddenly everything seemed to skid back into making sense. In an instant, she threw her arms around his neck, clinging onto him desperately. "Carl..." Her voice was breathless, panicked, grateful. "It's you, oh thank god it's you. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know what I would have done..." Swallowing hard, she cut herself off, leaning back enough to look him in the eyes, taking him in for a good hard minute before all sense of... sense just shut down. She leaned in without pause or warning, pressing her lips to his firmly, her arms tightening around his neck as she pressed herself into him, the comfort and warmth and safety that he made her feel.
 
Carl held onto her, as she started to almost flail and flip out. It was abundantlyclear that Something Was Wrong witht eh situation, but he couldn't for the life of him puzzle out what it was. All he could do was hang on and hope that he could keep her under control. And that was a tall order. Jai had training, had some strength to her, and in a panic that was amplified quite a bit. Part of it was likely coming from almost falling off the damned building, adn he was going to have to keep in mind to be a hell of a lot more careful about things. When she looked at him, she didn't seem to actually see him. It was a thousand yard stare, like she was looking right through him. And then she settled, as if recognizing him.

When she threw herself at him, he got his arms around her.
"Hey hey hey. It's okay you're okay." He said quietly, soothingly, wanting to keep her under control, keep her calm. He smiled at her, a hand coming to the side of her face, cupping her cheek lightly. He was about to make a comment about how if it hadn't been for him she likely wouldn't have fallen in the first place, but then she was all but throwing herself into him. Her lips on his, arms around him, and he held her close, his surprise being short lived, and then he just held her close, kept her tight to him, and let her soak in the moment. She seemed to need this more than anything.
 
The feeling of his palm pressed against her cheek was welcome, calming, comforting; and the way his hold tightened, it was evident to her just how much he truly cared, how much she mattered to him. It was enough to make her lips curve upwards into a slight smile, and she tilted her forehead against his as she reluctantly parted the kiss, though her lips remained lightly touching his. A soft laugh, more of a tiny chuckle really, left her throat and her eyes slid back open to sink into his. "You're always saving me..." She murmured, searching his eye for a long moment of hesitation. "And I love you."

Boom. The three word tango that she had not only never imagined to be leaving her own lips, but that she had never imagined feeling and hadn't fully understood until that moment. She'd nearly fallen off the roof to an untimely and painful death, or near death, and it was because he'd accidentally scared the hell out of her sure, but regardless, in that moment of breathlessness in the air... Desmond's voice filled her ears, but it was Carl who's face she saw, whose happiest, most comfortable memories came from, and it was Carl that was right there, in her heart of all places.

Coming back to the present, Jai's smile widened slightly and she slid her arms back from around his neck, instead gently pressing her palms against his chest, one directly over his own heart. "I love you." She said again, this time with a little more pleasantry and meaning behind it, even a bit of happy surprise, and her lips pressed to kiss his in a quick, gentle peck. "I love you, Carl. And I always will."
 
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